ODESSA, Texas – Qua Grant and Joel Murray combined for 46 points as No. 5 West Texas A&M handed UT Permian Basin their first home loss of the season, 98-84 on Thursday evening in Odessa. With the win, WT improved to 14-1 overall and 6-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
Grant opened the game with five points before finding a wide-open John Brown for a dunk as WT led 8-7 at the first media timeout. Jordan Collins would connect on the first of his four 3-pointers following the timeout to push the lead to four, 11-7, followed by a 10-0 run from the Falcons.
Zach Toussaint ended the UTPB run with a 3-pointer of his own, giving him a make from downtown in 14 straight games. They would continue to trail by five, 19-14 with 12 minutes remaining before halftime before Grant's second three of the game prompted a 9-0 run for the visitors.
Toussaint continued to punish the Falcons from beyond the arc as the freshman hit a pair of jumpers to push the lead to eight, 35-27, at 4:52. UTPB was equally as hot from 3-point range with Miles Washington and Fernandez Jones connecting from deep to make it a two-point game at the under four minute media timeout.
The Falcons would get within one, 35-34 on a Brandon Deravine free throw before Collins would make a pair of 3-pointers to give the Buffs 31 bench points in the opening 20 minutes.
WT pushed the lead to 16, 56-40, in the opening minutes of the second half on a 3-pointer from Grant. UTPB would respond with a 10-2 run over the next two minutes to make it 58-50 with 14 minutes remaining in the game.
The lead was three, 66-63, at 9:45 remaining before Grant hit another 3-pointer to push the lead back to six points. For the second straight game, Murray came up big down the stretch for the Buffs as he scored five straight points including a. 3-pointer to keep the Buffs ahead, 79-74, heading into the final five minutes of the game.
WT's lead was down to three on two different occasions but a layup from Jon'il Fugett and a three from Eric Mosley kept the Buffs ahead. The Buffs would get defensive stop. On the following Falcon possession to push the lead back to eight, 86-78, on a Murray layup. Collins would seal the victory with a pair of free throws in final 35 seconds as WT won their sixth straight over the Falcons.
Grant led the team in scoring for the 10th time this season with 24 after making a season-high five 3-pointers. The sophomore also had seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. Murray went over 20 points for the eighth time this season with 22 going 7-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Collins also scored a season-high 14 points while Mosley reached double figures with 10 points and six rebounds.
WT finishes its three-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 11, against Western. New Mexico in Silver City, N.M. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.
